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Dog finds a home after surviving gassing

The Associated Press
Published Wednesday, November 16, 2011 1:15PM EST

NUTLEY, N.J. - The dog that survived an Alabama dog pound's gas chamber has found a permanent home in New Jersey.

Daniel, a beagle mix named by animal control workers in Alabama after the biblical figure who survived the lion's den, joined four other rescued dogs last Thursday at the home of Joe Dwyer and his family in Nutley, about 10 miles west of New York City.

"He's in extremely good shape, especially in light of what he went through," Dwyer said Wednesday after returning from a trip to the veterinarian. "His attitude is just incredible."

Daniel surprised workers at the Animal Control facility in Florence, Ala., on Oct. 3, the day he was supposed to be put down with several other animals in a stainless-steel box roughly the size of a pickup truck bed that was filled with carbon monoxide.

The dog emerged frightened but unscathed, and was eventually flown to New Jersey by Eleventh Hour Rescue, a non-profit that saves dogs slated for euthanasia.

The organization received more than 100 requests to adopt Daniel, its president said last month. Dwyer said he and his family had two "meet-and-greets" with Daniel before being approved for adoption.

Dwyer said Daniel has become fast friends with the Nutley family's other four pooches -- two dachshunds, a beagle mix and a pit bull mix.

"By Thursday evening they were all lying down together," he said. "It was wonderful to see."

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Photos

In this Oct. 28, 2011, file photo, Daniel, who is better known as the "Miracle Dog," sits still while waiting for a treat in the Rochelle Park, N.J., home of Mark and Jill Pavlik, who were caring for him until he found a permanent home. The stray beagle mix, who cheated death in an Alabama dog pound's gas chamber on Oct. 3, has been placed with a family in Nutley, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Joe Dwyer, of Nutley, N.J., plays with his new dog Daniel, also known as the "Miracle Dog," Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011. The beagle mix got its nickname after it survived an Alabama dog pound gas chamber. Volunteers named the dog "Daniel" after the biblical figure who survived the lion's den. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)